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DECEMBER, 1906.]
ARCHAEOLOGY IN WESTERN TIBET.
829
B. The Bridge over Indus at Alchi-mkhar Gog. About one hundred yards from Alohi-mkhar Gog there is a wooden bridge across the Indus, and above it, close to the main road, there is an inscription which speaks of the construction of a bridge under king Sengge-rnam-rgyal, c. 1610-1840 A. D. This inscription has suffered much, and seems to bave been besten with stones in many places, in order to destroy some of the names. The text now given was copied by the Mission evangelist, Tbar-'aphyin-chos-'apbel, and it is accurate in the main, though I feel doubtful about certain words. As I am not likely to have an early opportunity of going to the spot, I now give the inscription in the evangelist's reading,
Text.
Om maņi padme hum. Chos rgyal yam mthsan che sengge roam rgyal stod ; emaho; kon mchog raam rgyal dang thsering phel serpo ldor kris thsering rnamskyis che chung thsangpo skulbas campai rgya rdzamla sbyin bdag 'abyang bala nubranas ghara kriskyi ra skye cig ri rdzonggi kacungpai drungnas raskyes cig rgyal Idep[ali lugu cig syiga dratsu cig khasbalokropa cbe ngan zus cig bab rtanbai drungnas rdungma cu bzbi dge slong loto dbangpos nas kbal phed dang eum ... dgang byornas nas khal nyis poto 3 sgerapa kungyis khel cig rmebabas zbi stagcigbai mgon khyigu kan dgā bkrashispai chos don bgrub mnamskyi singepo re . . . . ri rnamskyis singeso re dgă lo kros kbyil Idor sa phelle dgũ tbsering cho dgezhing kris.
Translation.
Om maņi padme hum. Praise to the wonderfully great religions King Sengge-rnam-rgyal. Kon-mohog-rnamrgyal and Thsering-phel [and] Krashis-Thsering of Borpo-ldor, these all, having admonished great and small, all of them, there originated alme-giving for the construction of this broadconnecting bridge. In this [alms-giving were presented) from Nubra by smith brashis a gelded he-goat; by Kacungpa of Ri-rdzong a gelded he-goat; by rGyal-lde a sheep (and a bag and a box?]; by Khashalokropa some parched grain ; by Bab-rtanba fourteen beams; by the hermit Loto-dbangpo 2 bushels of barley ; by dGang-byor two busbels of barley and three cups fall; by the people of rGera one bushel; by Mebaba (1) four; by all the m on-khyiga of Tag[ma]cig and the Chos-don-hgrub of G a-bkrashis & pot of beer each; by all the . . . . . . ri pot of beer each; Ga-lokros of Khyil-Idor [and] Su-phelle [and] Ga-thsering [made ? the bridge ?]; it being a virtue, bappiness to all)!
Notes on the Tibetan Text. The text seems to have been prepared by very illiterate people indeed, and I shall not attempt to correct all the words which are spelt wrongly, only selecting the worst instances in order to justify my trauslation.
Serpo-ldor, seems to be a local name. kris or bris, are common abbreviations of b Krashis.
oumpa, or bcumpa, means originally contract'; it is used here for connect,' because by the bridge the two banks of the river seem to be brought together, contracted.
rgya-rdzam, long bridge,' in opposition to the former loug-rdzam, bridge of ropes of twisted wijlow branches, which is naturally very narrow. About this time the first wooden bridges were probably constructed, for in the year 1685 the Indus was crossed at Khalatee on two wooden bridges.
dra-tau, is said to be a little box. che-ngan, is apparently phye-ngan, 'bad flour,' the ordinary term for rough parched grain. KUH-shig, perhaps the same as zas-shig, a little.
